Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-27% $13.20$13.20
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$6.12$6.12
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Books For You Today
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Audible sample Sample
Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale: A Memoir Paperback – February 28, 2012
Purchase options and add-ons
"Powerfully raw, deeply moving, and utterly authentic. Rachel Lloyd has turned a personal atrocity into triumph and is nothing less than a true hero. . . . Never again will you look at young girls on the street as one of 'those' women—you will only see little girls that are girls just like us." —Demi Moore, actress and activist
With the power and verity of First They Killed My Father and A Long Way Gone, Rachel Lloyd’s riveting survivor story is the true tale of her hard-won escape from the commercial sex industry and her bold founding of GEMS, New York City’s Girls Education and Mentoring Service, to help countless other young girls escape "the life." Lloyd’s unflinchingly honest memoir is a powerful and unforgettable story of inhuman abuse, enduring hope, and the promise of redemption.
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Perennial
- Publication dateFebruary 28, 2012
- Dimensions5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
- ISBN-109780061582066
- ISBN-13978-0061582066
- Lexile measure1210L
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Extraordinarily inspiring. . . [Girls Like Us] illuminates the complexities of the sex industry. . . . I hope that Lloyd’s important and compelling book will be a reminder that homegrown American girls are also trafficked, and they deserve sympathy and social services-not handcuffs and juvenile detention.” — Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
“Powerful, superbly reasoned, and articulate. . . . Girls Like Us tells the whole story with visceral power. . . . It is a page-turner, an eye-opener, a call to action, and a moving and inspiring story. It is told throughout with wit and candor. Lucky for us there are girls and women like Rachel Lloyd.” — Jane Wells, Huffington Post
“Riveting. . . . [Lloyd’s] passionate, persuasive arguments for recognition and protection give a voice to the thousands of girls all around us who work and suffer in near invisibility.” — Corrie Pikul, Elle
“Fascinating and moving.” — Marie Claire
“A brutally honest and disturbing look at sex trafficking, challenging society’s indifference and offering portraits of the occasional victory of girls who, like [Lloyd], heal and recover from their abuse.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Heartbreaking. . . . But the book is also at times funny, bawdy, and optimistic, as is Lloyd herself.” — Jennie Yabroff, Daily Beast
“Rachel Lloyd’s astonishing stories of life on the street have an accumulative power that left me reeling. What makes Girls Like Us such an extraordinary achievement is that her storytelling is unflinchingly honest, and yet filled with a sense of promise, filled with a profound sense of hope.” — Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here and The Other Side of the River
“This book will burn a hole in your heart. The beauty of Rachel Lloyd’s searing memoir is how she exorcises the pain of her own troubled girlhood by connecting with hundreds of young women on a brutal path.” — Mira Nair, director of Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala, and The Namesake
“Powerful . . . [Lloyd] details her life, seamlessly interweaving her current work and a more socio-political analysis of the domestic trafficking of girls and women. . . . But what really “makes” the book is what a truly gifted writer she is. The memoir moves quickly, propelled by skillfully drawn scenes and important insights about risk and recovery.” — Courtney Martin, Feministing.com
“Powerfully raw, deeply moving, and utterly authentic. . . . Exposing the complexities of ‘the life,’ Lloyd takes you inside a world most prefer to pretend doesn’t exist, and puts you front and center with the realities of the commercial sex industry and the modern day slave trade right here in America.” — ARTnews
“Harrowing. . . . A painful yet powerful book that asks readers to examine personal prejudices, find compassion for those most view as throwaways and recognize child abuse however it manifests.” — Kirkus Reviews
“With empathy and intellect, Rachel Lloyd brings to light the heart-breaking stories of these lost, forgotten, and abused girls. Her own life story is a source of inspiration and hope. She is an important new voice of conscience to which America needs to pay attention.” — Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO, Harlem Children's Zone
“Rachel Lloyd’s memoir should be mandatory reading for every cop, prosecutor, judge, and ‘john’, but also every mainstream American who thinks racism, classism, and misogyny don’t exist.” — Sarah Jones, Tony Award-winning playwright/performer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
“Girls Like Us is a life-changing book, in every sense of the word. Rachel Lloyd changed her life in order to help change the lives of thousands of others—read her incredibly powerful story, and your life will be changed too.” — Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir and Have You Found Her: A Memoir
“Girls Like Us is a powerful and eloquent recounting of the lives of children and young women caught up in the ravages of sexual exploitation….[It] offers valuable insights into understanding the complex emotional and economic factors that contribute to the exploitation of children and youth.” — Richard J. Estes, Professor of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania
From the Back Cover
During her teens, Rachel Lloyd ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. With time, through incredible resilience, and with the help of a local church community, she finally broke free of her pimp and her past and devoted herself to helping other young girls escape "the life."
In Girls Like Us, Lloyd reveals the dark world of commercial sex trafficking in cinematic detail and tells the story of her groundbreaking nonprofit organization: GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. With great humanity, she shares the stories of the girls whose lives GEMS has helped—small victories that have healed her wounds and made her whole. Revelatory, authentic, and brave, Girls Like Us is an unforgettable memoir.
About the Author
Rachel Lloyd is the founder and executive director of GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. The recipient of numerous fellowships and honors, including the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award, Lloyd was a leading advocate for the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, which made New York the first state to protect, not prosecute, sexually exploited children. She lives in New York City.
Product details
- ASIN : 0061582069
- Publisher : Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (February 28, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780061582066
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061582066
- Lexile measure : 1210L
- Item Weight : 7.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #65,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #69 in Psychology & Counseling Books on Sexuality
- #197 in Discrimination & Racism
- #2,499 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The writing is excellent and the narrative bounces back and forth between the author’s own life and vignettes of ‘the girls’ and their struggles. It draws you in with it’s raw humanity, and compassion, making this difficult subject relatable in a way that was unexpected. The quote at the beginning of chapter two made a big impact on me.
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul
Than the way in which it treats its children.
--Nelson Mandela
This story resonated with me more than I thought it would. In my twelve years working in EMS I came into contact with a small part of this world, through encounters with a few anti-trafficking task force members, and trafficking victims, But on a daily basis in this job, I saw how the system I was a part of was failing the children we were supposedly ‘helping.’ This book showed me how those failures can make children vulnerable to trafficking, and how to appreciate the special people making a real difference in tackling this horrific problem and the societal failures that perpetuate it. Without sugar coating or sparing her legacy, or the reader’s sensitivities the author maintained a sense of hope and positivity throughout the book and maintains this positivity in a way that is truly inspiring. We need to do a better job of taking care of all of our society’s children and Rachel Lloyd shows us where to begin
Every once in a while, a book comes along that is so powerfully written, it has the ability to cause you to change how you think, how you feel, and maybe even: how you act.
For me, such a book is Girls Like Us: Fighting For a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, by Rachel Lloyd.
I recently completed a 60-hour training course on Crisis Intervention, in order to work with victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and/or elder abuse. One of our sessions focused on human sex trafficking, and this book was recommended by our phenomenal presenter, who works with victims of such trafficking.
The session opened my eyes to the "top layer" of misconceptions around sex trafficking -- especially with regard to children. For example, I think many (most?) of us believe that only women from other countries are forced into prostitution here in the United States. Reading the book opened my eyes to the entire landscape of a devastating underworld that is closer to home than most of us realize.
Over 70% of all those forced into (and I do mean forced) sex work in the United States are Americans. This book, written by such a victim, who now works tirelessly as an advocate for these voiceless victims, puts a bald but factual face on the many "myths" surrounding those in the "sex trade." Just a few examples: that prostitutes choose "the life" (as it is known in the vernacular), that prostitutes are from low socio-economic backgrounds, that prostitutes are runaways, that prostitutes "do it because they like it," that prostitutes stay in the life because of the money they can make, especially when they have no other skills, that prostitutes are "asking for it" when they are beaten/raped/humiliated by their "johns" and/or pimps because after all: they should have known what they were getting into when they "became" prostitutes.
I read this book from cover to cover in two sittings, unable to turn away from it. It is passionately and compassionately written by a woman who has successfully led the fight to pass critically important legislation regarding sex work. One of the latest developments we learned about in our training was that - nowadays -- minors (boys and girls under the age of 18) do NOT have to prove they were "coerced or forced" into the trade. And this is because: by definition, a minor does not have the necessary resources or skills to resist being lured into the sex trade, especially when they are convinced they have no other option.
If you possess an open mind and an open heart, I promise this book will change you, and in very important ways. Even if you finish the book and simply change the vocabulary you use when referring to people in the sex trade, it will be a major step forward in the fight to stop human sex trafficking.
I am not a political person, and I rarely get up on a soapbox, but I will make an exception here. Tomorrow, Valentine's Day, is one that will be marked all over our country by people who are standing up against sex trafficking and violence in that world. It is called the "One Billion Rising," an international call to action that focuses on ending violence and sexual assault against women all over the world. For more information, please go to VDAY.org. The name of the event derives from the fact that human sex trafficking is a $1 billion/year business.
This is the first time since I began this blog that I am going to give a "current" book a 5-Worm Rating . . . . and believe me: it's not just because of the interest and passion it has stirred in me, but also because it is remarkably well written. I promise you will not walk away from this story untouched -- and in a hopeful way.